Component separating means



Feb 1945- M. 1.. SAPPENFIELD 2,369,255

.COMPONENT SEPARAT ING MEANS Filed Dec. 31, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 j vINVENTOR.

Y WKW AGENT Feb 13, 1945. SAPPENHELD 2,369,255

COMPONENT SEPARATING MEANS Filed Dec. 31, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 wwmAGENT Feb, 13, 1945- M. SAPPENFIELD 2,369,255

COMPONENT SEPARATING MEANS Filed Dec. 31, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 PatentedFeb. 13, 1945 amass COMPONENT SEPARATING IWEAN S Marion L. Sappenfield,Kansas City, Mo, assignor to Remington Arms Company, 1110., Bridgeport,(301111., a corporation of Delaware Application December 31, 1943,Serial No. 516,355

8 Claims.

The present invention relates, in general, to ammunition manufacture,and, in particular, to an improved machine for separating or pullingdown cartridges into their component parts.

The embodiment of the invention shown and described herein is exemplaryof a device especially suited for withdrawing bullets from the mouths ofcartridge cases, but it will be understood that modifications of thespecific structure illustrated and described may be made and areincluded within the scope of the appended claims.

In the manufacture of small arms ammunition, and, in particular, .30 and.50 caliber ball and armor piercing cartridges, a certain percentage ofthe finished cartridges inevitably fail on inspection to meet ordnancespecifications, and hence are rejected. To reduce the loss represe bythese rejects, t is the practice of manufacturers to pull down orreclaim all acceptable components of the cartridges and to use thesereclaimed components over again.

Various devices have been used to remove the bullets from cartridgecases, but these earlier devices have been unsuccessful in that thebullets were scratched or deeply scarred by the bullet engaging jaws ofthe pull down machine.

An object of the present invention is to pull down cartridges withoutscratchin or marring the cartridge components. A further object is toprovide an improved machine for withdrawing bullets from the mouths ofcartrdge cases. A still further object is to provide a fluid operatedchuck for gripping a bullet and drawing it out of a cartridge casewithout defacing or scratching the surface of the bullet.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention willbe described in more detail in the following specification which isdescriptive of the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a machine adapted to embody the cartridgepull down device of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a right side elevation of the fluid operated chuck of thisinvention showing the fixed stops of the machine frame.

Fig. 3 is a left side elevation of the chuck of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the chuck and the fluid operating meanstherefor on lines 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation in section on line 55 of Fig. 4, including afragmentary part of the cartridge feeding and supporting means.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the se ments of the split sleevechuck.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a machine which is especiallysuited for actuatin the cartridge pull down device of this invention andcompr'mes a base [0 having a cartridge supporting plate H on iWhlCh isrotatably mounted a dial 12 provided with a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced apertures I3, see Fig. 5, adapted to retain thecartridges substantially upright on the supporting plate H. The dial I2i provided with ratchet teeth I 4 around its periphery adapted to beengaged by an actuating pawl 15 which rotates the dial [2 intermittentlythereby sliding or feeding the cartridges over the surface of the plateH to the operating station oi the machine hereinafter described.

Mounted substantially vertically on the base are a pair of spacedsubstantially parallel frame members 16 on the upper ends of which ismounted a crankshaft, indicated generally at IT. The latter is providedat one end with a fiy wheel it which is driven from a power source (notshown). The opposite end of the crankshaft carries a disk l9 having aneccentric pin 23 thereon to which is connected the upper end of aconnector 22 pivoted at 22 to the frame member It. The lower end of theconnector 22 is pivoted at l to a horizontally disposed link 8 which inturn is pivoted at its rear end to a slide block 9 movable in ways 9'fixed to the frame H5. The pawl I5 is pivotally carried on the front endof the slide block 9. For each revolution of the crankshaft, thecartridge feeding dial I2 is rotated so as to move a cartridgestep-by-step to the operating station and re move a pulled downcartridge case from the operating station. The pulled down case willsubsequently be moved by the dial 12 over an aperture in the plate lland be automatically discharged from the machine. As each cartridge caseis moved into position at the operating station, it is temporarilyclamped to the supporting plate H by means of a short section of flangedtrack 23, the flanges of which areadapted to engage in the extractiongroove of a case head. Thus, a considerable upward force may be exertedon the bullet to pull the bullet out of the case, the latter beingsecurely held in its aperture in the feed dial [2.

Rotata'bly supported on the crankshaft I1 is a connectin rod 24 having agate 25 at its lower end constructed and arranged to reciprocate insubstantially vertical ways 26 secured to the legs H; of the machine.The gate 25 is a relatively heavy substantially rectangular blockprovided with a forwardly projecting substantially semicircular ring 21welded or otherwise secured on the front face thereof. A relativelyheavy coil spring 28 is shown secured at its lower end to the gate andat its upper end to a fixed part of the frame to compensate for theadditional weight of the fluid operated chuck which is adapted to besecured thereto as hereinafter described and to facilitate restorationof the gate to its upper position. The gate 25 defines the operatinsstation of the machine.

The description thus far has been a brief disclosure of the essentialelements of a well known type of machine for manufacturing cartridgesand is described in greater detail in Patent No. 605,340, W 13, Place,June '7, 1898.

The fluid operated chuck of thisinvention is 7 shown in detail in Figs.2 through 6 and comprises a chuck supporting block 3i) which issubstantially rectangular in cross section and which, for simplicity ofconstruction, may be made in two parts and 30 secured together by bolts32, as shown in Fig. 2. The block 32? is provided with a substantiallyrectangular slot 33 which is open at the underside of the block 3t andextends transversely across the forward end thereof. A substantiallyvertical hole 34 is shown drilled or bored down through the forward endof the block 35 from the top surface thereof into the rec-- tangularslot 33, the vertical axis of the hole intersecting the longitudinalaxis of the block 38 and lying in a vertical plane on the longitudinalaxis of the slot 33. The diameter of the hole 34 is substantially equalto the width of the rectangular slot 33, whereby the intersecting wallsof the slot and drilled hole are substantially flush. A counterbore 35of suitable depth is formed in the upper end of the, hole 3% andprovides a square shoulder or seat 35 for supporting a chuck hereinafterdescribed.

A substantially rectangular slot of relatively shallow depth is milledor otherwise formed transversely across the top face of the block 33,the longitudinal axis of the slot 38 being parallel to and insubstantially the vertical plane of the longitudinal axis of the lowerslot 33. The bottom surface of the slot 38 defines shoulders 39 at theupper edge of the counterbore 35.

The shoulders 39 are adapted to support a cylindrical throat memberwhich is provided with a substantially rectangular flange 32 on itslower end adapted to fit in the slot 33 and to be secured therein bysuitable countersunk bolts- 43, see Figs. 4 and 5, which are threadedinto the 5 shoulders 39 of the slot 38. The throat member 4i] is coredaxially as at 44, the lower edge of the axial aperture 44 havingbevelled edges 35. The upper end of the aperture M is counterbored as at45 to provide shoulders 4'! to support the lower end of a bulletdischarge chute 48 which, as shown in Fig, 1, is provided with alaterally extending funnel 49 adapted to discharge the extracted bulletsfrom the machine, as hereinafter described. A substantially rectangularrecess 50 is shown in the forward face of the throat member 49, thebottom 52 of the recess comprising a vertically inclined plane surfacesloping outwardly, as shown in Fig. 5.v

The fluid operated chuck is indicated generally at 53 and comprises acylindrical split sleeve consisting of two substantially semicylindricalparts or segments .53 and 53" adapted to be fioatingly supported in thebore 34 of the block 39. Each part or segment is provided with asemicircular flange 54' and 54 respectively on its upper edge adapted toseat freely on a corresponding sl1oulder 35 of the counterbore 35. Therespective semicylindrical bores 55' and 55" of each sleeve segment issubstantially equal in diameter to the diameter of a cartridge bulletand is nicely finished to present a smooth polished surface to a bullet,the latter being adapted to be gripped tightly between the cooperatingsurfaces 55 and 55" as hereinafter described. Each bore of thecylindrical segments is also provided with a relatively longcounterbored portion 56 and 56 respectively in the upper end thereof ofsuch diameter that a bullet in this portion of the bore of the chuckwill be loosely supported therein;

and a relatively short counterbored portion 51' and 5?" in the lower endthereof, the diameter of the latter being substantially equal to theoutside diameter of the neck portion of a cartridge case so that theupper end or mouth of the case will be properly guided within thecooperating counterbores 57' and 51 when the chuck 53 is lowered intoengagement with the bullet. The lower end of each sleeve segment issuitably tapered as shown in 58' and 58" respectively to provideclearance for the shoulder of the cartridge case.

Each sleeve segment is provided with a pair of semispherical recesses59, see Fig. 6, located on opposite sides of the counterbore portions 56and 56" respectively of each sleeve and adjacent the upper end thereof.

In. assembling the two semicylindrical segments within the bore 34 ofthe block 30, a steel ball 88 is mounted in each pair of cooperatingrecesses 59 of the segments, the recesses being of a depth such that thecylindrical segments are held spaced apart slightly by the balls 60 asshown in Fig. 5. As pointed out above, the flanges 54 and 54" of therespective segments are adapted to be freely mounted on correspondingshoulders 36 of the bore 34. To this end, the bevelled surfaces 45 areprovided on the lower end of the funnel 411, and the counterbore 35 isof such depth that the flanges of the respective segments of the chuck53 fit loosely between the surfaces 45 and the shoulders 36 of thecounterbore, and hence are enabled to move independently of each other,the parts pivoting slightly about the balls 68 as fulcrum points.

Mounted in a horizontally disposed hole 62, which is drilled and tappedin the front face of the block 30 and which intersects the hole 34 ofthe block 30 is a ball 63 which is backed by a suitable coil spring 64held in place by a screw 65 threadedly secured in the hole 62 andadapted to vary the compression force of the spring 64.

In accordance with this construction, the front sleeve segment 53" isengaged by the spring pressed ball 63 and constantly urged to pivotclockwise, see Fig. 5, about the fulcrum ball 60 and thus normally tobring the two sleeve segments together to provide an axial bore ofminimum diameter. Consequently, whenever a bullet 5 is thrust up intothe resilient jaws or segments of the chuck, it will be retained thereinfollowing its extraction or withdrawal from the mouth of a cartridgecase. It will be clear, however, that the restraining force of thespring pressed ball 63 is inadequate for imparting sufficient grippingforce to the jaws to effect extraction.

The gripping force necessary for carrying out the pull down .orextraction operation is provided by suitable fluid operated means formoving the jaws of the chuck together. The term ""fiuid, as

used herein, shal1 be understood to designate both liquid and gaseousmediums. In the embodiment shown herein, air is the fluid used but itwill be understood that hydraulically operated means are included withinthe scope of the appended claims, Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, the chuckoperating means comprises a. pneumatically operated cam or eccentricdisk 66 carried on a shaft 61 which is rotatably mounted in horizontalbearings in the block 39. The eccentric disk 66 is located within apocket 68 which is formed in the block 30 by milling out circularrecesses in adjacent faces of the disassembled blocks 30' and 30", seeFig. 4, and is of sufiicient diameter to enable the cam or eccentricdisk 66 to have suitable clearance therein, as shown in Fig. 5.

The forward edge of the pocket 68 intersects the wall of the bore 34 ofthe block 30 to provide an opening into the bore 34. The shaft 61 issupported in its bearings which are so located with respect to the bore34 that the eccentric periphery of the cam 66 normally lies outside ofthe bore 34 but is enabled on rotation of the shaft 61 to project intothe bore 34 so as to engage with the adjacent surface or wall of thesleeve segment 63'. One end of the shaft 61 is extended beyond the sideof the block 30 to provide a hub 61' to which a cam operating lever,indicated generally at 69, is securely fastened. The lever 69 comprisesan apertured head portion 69' adapted to be keyed or otherwise securedto the hub 61 and is provided with a rearwardly extending cylindricalrod 12, the latter being slidable within a cylindrical sleeve 13 whichis bifurcated at its rear end 13' to receive an apertured tongue 14 of asleeve connecting link 15. Suitable means such as a pin 16 is providedfor pivotally securing the tongue 74 between the bifurcations 13' of thesleeve 13.

The connecting link 15 is shown fastened securely by a bolt or pin 11 tothe lower end of a piston rod 18 which carries a piston 19 on its upperend, see Fig. 4, reciprocable within an air cylinder 80. The latter is awell known type of cylinder having a valve box 82 on one side thereofprovided with a vertically sliding valve operating rod 83 and suitableinlet and exhaust port connections, indicated generally at 84.

The cylinder 80 is bolted securely in a substantially vertical positionon a horizontally disposed shelf 85 which is secured at its forward endby bolts 86 to the top surface of the block 30 adjacent the rear endthereof. The rear end of the shelf 85 is bifurcated, as indicated by thedotted lines 81 in Fig. 4, to provide clearance for the piston rod 18and is supported by a diagonally arranged brace 88, the upper end ofwhich is fastened by a weld joint to one side of the plate 85, the lowerend of the brace being secured by one of the bolts 32 to the adjacentside of the block 30.

The lower end of the valve operating rod is threaded and provided with apair of vertically spaced adjusting nuts 89 having flanged collets 90,the flanges of which constitute bearing surfaces for articulatinglyconnecting the lower end of the valve rod to one end of a valve rodactuating lever arm 92. The latter is pivotally supported intermediateits ends by a bolt 93 which is secured in the outer end of a framemember 94 suitably fastened at its forward end to the rear end of theblock 39. The rear end of the lever arm 92 is adapted to be located inthe vertical plane of a pair of vertically spaced fixed stops 95 whichare adjustably secured in drilled and tapped bosses 93 welded orotherwise formed on the inside surface of one of the upstanding legs [6of the machine, as shown in Fig. 1.

The block 30 including its assembled chuck and pneumatically operatedchuck actuating means is adapted to be detachably'secured to thereciprocating gate 25 of the machine by inserting the upper end of thethroat 49 through the ring 2! of the gate. A suitable screw or bolt 91is shown threadedly engaged in the tapped hole in the ring 21 and isadapted to be turned up until its inner end engages the inclined surface52 of the recess 50 in the throat 49. In this manner, the entire chuckassembly is fastened to the gate and is reciprocated thereby whereby therearwardly extending end of the lever arm 92 is moved into and fromengagement with the respective stops 95.

The operation of the machine is as follows: Cartridges are loaded intothe apertures [3 of the feed dial I2 which traverses the cartridgesstepby-step to the operating station identified by the reciprocatinggate 21. The heads of the cartridges are supported and slide on theplate ll while being moved to the operating station and in the latterposition the extraction grooves of the cartridge heads are engaged bythe flanged guide tracks 23. The cartridge case is thus temporarily helddown on the plate I l at the operating station, thus enabling an upwardforce applied to the bullet to separate the bullet from the case. As thedownwardly moving gate approaches the bottom of its stroke, the chuck-53 is forced down over the bullet. As described above, the jaws of thechuck are normally closed, the jaw segment 53" being held in arearwardly displaced position by the spring pressed ball 63, but areenabled to spread apart as the chuck moves down over the bullet.

In its lowermost position, the counterbore 51' and 5'!" of the chuckengage the neck of the cartridge case so as to align the case axiallywith the bore of the chuck. Simultaneously, the rear end of the leverarm 92 engages the lower fixed stop 95 of the frame and is pivotedcounterclockwise, see Fig. 2, whereupon the valve operating rod 83 isactuated to admit air under pressure into the air cylinder so as. toforce the piston 19 up. The cam operating lever 69 is thereby pivotedupwardly, see Fig. 3, rotating the cam 66 clockwise so that a portionofits eccentric periphery represented by the dotted lines enters intothe bore 34 engaging the adjacent surface of the pivotally mounted jawsegment 53 and forcing the latter to pivot counterclockwise slightly.The bullet and jaw segment 53" are thereupon shifted in a similardirection or forwardly in the bore 34 bringing the sleeve segment 53hard up against the forward 'wall of the bore 34 and compressing thecoil spring 64. The bullet is thus clamped firmly between the smoothsubstantially cylindrical surfaces 55' and 55" of the respective chuckjaws and is thereupon pulled or drawn out of the mouth of the case asthe e moves upwardly. At the top of the stroke, the rear end of thelever arm 92 engages the upper fixed stop whereupon the lever arm ispivoted clockwise, see Fig. 2, setting the valve operating rod 83 sothat air is admitted into the cylinder 89 to drive the piston down. Thecam operating rod 69 is thereupon moved downwardly, see dotted lines inFig. 3, rotating the cam 66 counterclockwise and withdrawing itseccentric periphery from engagement with the adjacent surface of the lawsegment 5:3. bullet. is thereupon released from the Ifirm grip of thepneumatically closed jaws :but is. simultaneously held in the jaws ofthe clamping action of the spring pressed jaw segment 53 which takeseifect immediately following release of the jaw segments by thepneumatically operated eccentrio cam. Thus, when the gate again movesdown, the base of the extracted bullet, which is retained .in the chuckjaws, .is engaged by the nose of the bullet of the next succeedingcartridge to-be pulled down. The first or extracted bullet is thereuponpushed upwardly in the chuck and is loosely supported by the enteringbullet in the counterbore portion '56 and 56" of the chuck. As the pulldown operation proceeds, the extracted bullets are moved further up inthe throat 44 and into the discharge chute 48 from which they aredischarged by the funnel) into a :sui-table tote box or other container\(not shown). The pulled down cartridge cases are automaticallydischarged from the machine at-a station succeeding the operatingstation by dropping through an aperture of the supporting plate II.

The pulling downer separationof the cartridge components is thuscontinuous .as long as cartridges are supplied to the lfeed dial 12.Moreover, the bullets which are removed from the cases are free fromscratches or disfigurations of any kind, and hence are reclaimable torsubsequent use.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for separating components of an article comprising .articlesupporting means; means for feeding articles on said supporting means toan operating station; a chuck at said station; fluid operated means :topositively close said chuck, said chuck having a smooth cylindrical borewhen closed .to grip one component of said article; means to move saidchuck relative to said supporting means to separate the component insaid chuck from othe components of said article, said fluid operatedmeans being adapted thereafter to enable said chuck to'open; and aspring associated with said chuck to resilientlyhold the chuck closedthereby to retain the separated component in said chuck.

2, A machine :for separating components of an article comprising articlesupporting means; means for feeding articles on said supporting means toan operating station; a reciprocating gate at said operating station; afluid operated chuck carried by said reciprocating gate; valve means atone end of the stroke of said reciprocating gate to close said chuck,said chuck having a smooth cylindrical bore when closed to grip acomponent of said article whereby said component is separated from saidarticle by relative movement of said gate and supporting means, saidvalve being actuated at the opposite end of the stroke to enable saidchuck to open and thereby to release said component; and resilient meanto hold the .chuck in gripping engagement with said separated component.

3. In a cartridge pull-down machine, cartridge feeding means; means toactuate said feeding means to carry a cartridge to an operating station;cartridge hold'down means at said operating station; a reciprocatinggate at said operating station; a chuck carried by said reciprocatinggate comprising jaws having smooth surfaces for gripping a bullet'and'withdrawing the bullet from a cartridge at said station 'byrelative movement of said gate and hold down means; and

'meansforactuating the jaws'of said chuck-com prising fluid operatedmembers, fixed stops :on said machine, and an element carried by saidfluid operated members to engage said fixed stops at the upper and lowerlimits of the stroke of .said reciprocating gate.

*4. Inacartridge pull-down machine, cartridge feeding means; means toactuate said feeding means to carry a cartridge to an operating station;cartridge hold down means at said operating station; a reciprocatinggate at said operating station; a fluid operated chuck carried by saidreciprocating gate comprising jaws having smooth surfaces for gripping abullet and withdrawing the bullet from a cartridge at said station bythe relative movement of said gate and hold down means; .and a ring .onsaidgate having a lock bolt therein to detachably secure said fluidoperated chuck to said gate.

35. In a cartridge pull-down machine, cartridge feeding means; means toactuate said feeding means to carry 'a cartridge to an operatingstation; cartridge hold down means at said operating station; areciprocating gate at said operating station; a pneumatically operatedchuck comprising floating jaws carried by said reciprocat ing gate andmeans for closing said jaws on a bullet for withdrawing a bullet from acartridge at said station by the relative movement of said gate and'hold down means, said jaw closing means comprising a cam and a memberfor rotating said cam into engagement with one of said jaws to move saidjaws positively together at the bottom of the stroke of said gate, saidcam being rotatable out of engagement with one of said jaws to enablesaid jaws to separate at the upper end of the stroke of said gate.

-6. In a cartridge pull-down machine, cartridge feeding means; means toactuate said feeding means to carry a cartridge to an operating station;cartridge hold down'means at said operating station; a reciprocatinggate at said operating station; a pneumatically operated chuckcomprising floating jaws carried by said reciprocating gate; means forclosing said jaws on a bullet for withdrawing a bullet from a cartridgeat 'said station by the relative movement of said gate and hold downmeans, said jaw closing means comprising a cam and a pneumaticallyoperated'mem-ber for rotating said cam into engagement with one of saidjaws to close said jaws at the bottom of the stroke of said gate; andresilient means for maintaining said jaws closed at the upper end, ofthe stroke of said gate to hold the extracted bullet in said laws.

'7. In .a cartridge pull-down machine, cartridge feeding means; means toactuate said feeding means to carry .a cartridge to an operatingstation; cartridge hold down means at said operating station; areciprocating gate at said operatingstation; a pneumatically-operatedchuck carried by .said reciprocating gate for gripping and withdrawing abullet froma cartridge at said station by the relative movement of saidgate and hold down means, said chuck comprising a split sleeve to engagesaid bullet and elements supported between the segments ,of said splitsleeve to enablesaid segments to move freely relative to each other;means for closing the segments.

of said split sleeve comprising a cam and a pneumatically operated armfor rotating said cam into engagement with one only of said segmentstoJmOVeit positively relative to the second segment of said sleeve, saidcam being rotatable out of engagement with said first segment to enablesaid segments to separate at the upper limit of the stroke of said gate;and a spring pressed element in engagement with said second segment toresiliently hold said sleeve closed after disengagement of said firstsegment by said cam.

8. In a'cartridge pull-down machine, cartridge feeding means; means toactuate said feeding means to carry a cartridge to an operating station;cartridge hold down means at said operating station; a verticallyreciprocating gate at said operating station; a chuck carried by saidreciprocating gate comprising a pair of floating jaws adapted to beclosed to seize a bullet and to Withdraw said bullet from a cartridgecase at said station; pneumatically operated means carried by said gateto actuate said chuck jaws comprising a rotatable jaw engaging cam, andair cylinder having a piston, members connecting said cam to saidpiston, stops fixed to said machine, and a valve arm carried by said aircylinder constructed and arranged to engage said fixed stops at theupper and lower limits of said stroke of said gate to effectdisplacement of said piston in said cylinder and thereby to rotate saidcam into and from engagement respectively with one only of said jaws;and a tu-bular element supported at the upper end of said chuck todischarge the bullets withdrawn from the cartridge cases from saidmachine while maintaining continuous operation of said reciprocatinggate and cartridge feeding means.

MARION L. SAPPENFIELD.

